Madam Speaker, Alberta is an incredible province full of people who are intelligent and hard-working, innovative and creative. They are people who roll up their sleeves and put their hand to the plough in order to get the job done.
If members were to come to my riding of Lethbridge, Alberta, they would see this incredible mix of an urban sprawl, a city of just over 100,000 people, with a college and a university, with entrepreneurs, with innovation taking place and with technology and science advancing. Surrounding us, they would see the agriculture sector. They would see fields, animals and this incredible vibrancy.
Albertans know how to work. Albertans know how to innovate. Albertans know how to identify the problems that we face and how to solve those problems. Therefore, in 2005, in my province, regulations were put in place with regard to heavy emitters. In terms of a cap on oil sands, there is a provincial cap on emissions.
Therefore, we did not need the federal government to dictate this to us. The innovative people of Alberta saw the need. They saw the need to look after the environment, because the environment is what keeps our agriculture sector strong. A healthy environment allows us to feed the world, so of course we are going to take care of the environment.
We also have an energy sector that needs to thrive. Our energy sector is what allows our province and, I dare say, our country to build hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
This is my province and this is the province that deserves to be celebrated and not punished.